


Little Ghost

by RedRaidingHood



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-19
Updated: 2014-09-19
Packaged: 2018-02-18 00:38:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2328848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedRaidingHood/pseuds/RedRaidingHood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank and Nico take a few of the younger kids trick-or-treating. Nico invites a little girl no one else knows to come along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Ghost

Frank towered over the kids in their colourful costumes, his lips moving silently when they tried to count the excited group. He laughed when one of them ran into him and apologized profoundly. It was pretty cool going trick-or-treating again even if he and Nico were only accompanying the younger kids.

“That’s everyone?”

Nico leaned towards him, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyes never leaving the street as if he still expected another kid to show up. “Give her a few more minutes.”

To those who didn’t know Nico as long as Frank did, the teenager looked annoyed, probably a little peeved by having to take a bunch of demigod kids trick-or-treating, but his voice betrayed the amusement he was actually feeling.

“So we _are_ waiting for someone else?” Frank raised an eyebrow. “Someone who doesn’t live at either Camp?”

Nico took a few seconds before looking at his friend a little mischievously. “Oh, she’s a demigod alright, don’t worry.”

“I didn’t worry,” Frank huffed, grabbing a kid just in time to stop the little bug from scraping his knees.

“Sure you didn’t.” Nico’s eyes lit up and he nodded towards the little figure appearing a few blocks away. “There she is. Her name’s Kate. Unclaimed as far as I know.”

Frank nodded and studied the small girl. Curly red hair bounced beside her face with every step she took and her toothy smile grew. She started to run the last block, only giving Nico time to step outside the circle of kids and crouch down to catch her flying tackle.

“So what are you dressed as?” Nico asked her laughing a little. “No, wait. Don’t tell me.” He held her at arms length and made a show of looking at her black and white dress and tugging at the bonnet she wore. “You’re dressed like a little pilgrim girl and it’s Halloween, so you’re…”

Kate had her small hands balled in the worn leather of Nico’s jacket, nodding excitedly to keep him going.

“You’re a witch!” He exclaimed triumphantly, hoisting her up and twirling around to the group. “Alright, you little monsters and other horrible folks,” The kids gathered, their attention now solely on the son of Hades. Kate had her face buried in his shoulder, her hands still clutching the jacket. “This,” Nico said and put the girl down in front of the other kids. “This is Kate. Be nice to her, she’s a witch and she’ll turn your candy into vegetables if you’re naughty.”

The young demigods each tried to get a good look at the newcomer, giggling and shoving to the front.

“You’re a witch? A real witch?”

“No, silly. She’s a daughter of Hecate, that’s what Nico said.”

A boy, big for his age and claimed by Ares braved Nico’s watchful eyes first. “Witches are powerful, right?” he asked Kate directly, who in turn looked up to Nico for help but answered nonetheless.

“I-I guess?”

“Great. I’m Andrew, let’s be friends.” the kid smiled at her and took her hand pulling her with him. “Come on, we’ll get the most candy!” Kate laughed and followed Andrew easily.

“So, who is she?”

Nico looked up to see the roman Praetor watching the kids stumble along the street towards the first house on their route.

He shrugged. “She’s Andrew’s new friend I guess.”

Frank crossed his arms and shook his head. They considered each other friends for quite some time now, but still, Nico sometimes acted strange, and Frank could do nothing but bear it, get accustomed to the other demigod. And in all honesty, Kate seemed like a nice girl and the other kids obviously liked her already. “You ever been trick-or-treating yourself?”

Following their costumed herd, the boys fell into step beside each other easily. “Nah,” Nico stared up at the sky were the first stars were visible. “Not that I remember.”

“So this is your first time?”

“Kinda.”

Frank grinned suddenly, his steps getting faster. “Just a sec,” he said and left Nico alone behind their group to lay a hand on Kate and Andrew’s shoulder each, whispering and acting suspicious himself. So all Nico could do was watch the kids’ eyes widening with a wary smile and blink when they came to tackle him both catching his hands.

“Is it true?” Andrew grinned at him. “You’ve never gone trick-or-treating?”

“He’s lying.” Kate tugged at his hand. “He’s lying, is he?”

Andrew snorted. “A Preator doesn’t lie, Kate!”

“So Nico never went trick-or-treating?” Her tiny face scrunched up. “Let’s change that.”

Andrew grinned wide enough to show off the gap where he’d lost a tooth earlier last week while training and nodded. Those kids had a mission now and their eyes told Nico everything he had to know not to be surprised when they tugged at his hands and pulled him along on their hunt for candy.

And he actually enjoyed himself quite a bit holding up the candy so high the kids had to jump, only to dump the whole bowl in Kate’s bag and casually dropping his own candies in the bags of the Hermes kids’ when they weren’t watching (the other kids _were_. It was hilarious.) he ran along with them from house to house and ended up giving them piggybacks when it got darker and their feet tired. Kate and Andrew eventually rolled their eyes at him, but nevertheless took his challenge and stuffed their mouths with fun sized candy, counting and hoping to get in more than the teenager.

Frank only grinned, his own face bright red from running and chocolate smearing on his cheek when they loaded the kids on the bus to drive them back to Camp.

Andrew hopped on the bus but turned when he noticed Kate wouldn’t follow him. “Hey, you’re coming, Kate?” He blocked the way for the other kids but in a manner that would’ve made his Dad proud, he didn’t care.

The little girl looked at her friend for a few moments, her grin falling from her face and her eyes dropping when Nico crouched down and laid a hand on her shoulder. “She doesn’t live at Camp, Andrew,” he explained. “How about you come down here and say goodbye properly?”

Kate smiled at that, she smiled when she heard the other kids calling her and waving from the bus Frank shooed them into and she smiled still when Andrew stood in front of her again.

“I had fun tonight,” she confessed.

“Well duh.” Andrew grinned. “I wouldn’t ‘ve guessed by the way you shoved candy down my shirt.”

“You had it coming.”

The kids laughed and hugged each other and Nico watched them and smiled.

“So, who _is_ this girl?”

“I’m taking her home. Can you take care of the rest on your own?”

Frank rolled his eyes. “Well, at least I can tell Hazel you need to go on a diet after today.”

Nico’s smile only grew, showing his teeth. He looked at his friend and shoved his shoulder. “Pot, kettle.”

Frank clapped his hands. “Ok, come on Andrew, it’s time to go home.”

Nico stood beside Kate as she waved her new friends goodbye and watched them drive away as long as possible. Then she took Nico’s hand again and they started walking.

“Thank you, Nico.” Her voice was tiny and she looked at her feet.

Squeezing her small fingers in his hand, Nico huffed. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat chocolate again.”

The girl laughed. “You silly! I told you not to eat that much. Now you got a tummy ache.”

“Oh, come on! As if you haven’t eaten just as many of those peanut-butter cups.”

“But you’re old!”

“I’m not old,” Nico stopped at their destination and scooped her up again. “You had fun tonight, didn’t you?”

Kate buried her face in his shoulder and giggled. “Yes! So much. Andrew was cool and Tonia gave me her Skittles and they talked to me and they saw me and I’m just so happy.” She looked up to meet the eyes of the Ghost King. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Nico smiled at her and sat her down on her grave. “You’re welcome, Little Ghost.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I'm a little early with a Halloween story, but well...  
> You should listen to "Little Ghost" by The White Stripes!
> 
> I hope you liked this little piece of work!  
> Feel free to comment and/or criticize <3


End file.
